News

San Francisco blogger busted for 'inappropriate' photo of a supervisor in the bathroom

Bay City News Service

Posted:
12/05/2012 06:11:29 AM PST

Updated:
12/05/2012 06:11:44 AM PST

SAN FRANCISCO -- San Francisco District Attorney George Gascon on Wednesday chided a local blogger who is set to be arraigned on disorderly conduct charges Wednesday for taking a photo of Supervisor Scott Wiener in a City Hall bathroom in October.

Gascon, speaking to reporters at an unrelated event this afternoon, said the behavior of blogger and gay rights activist Michael Petrelis was "very, very inappropriate."

Petrelis allegedly snapped the photo on Oct. 26 after encountering Wiener in a second floor bathroom at City Hall and posted it on his blog the next day.

Below the photo, Petrelis wrote that he tried to take a photo of Wiener as he stood at a urinal but the time it took for his camera to focus gave the supervisor "enough time for him to put away his wiener and zipper up."

Petrelis wrote, "The only photo I caught was of him grabbing his toothbrush from the wash basin. He sighed heavily and with exasperation having to not only have to interact with me, but in a restroom and with a camera going off."

Petrelis eventually wrote in a later post that he surrendered to sheriff's deputies on Nov. 29 after a warrant was issued for his arrest.

He is set to make his initial appearance in San Francisco Superior Court on Wednesday morning to face the misdemeanor disorderly conduct charge.

Gascon said that he wants "to make sure we send a message that that type of behavior is not accepted ... it completely trespasses the social boundary of decency and good sense."

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He said, "It is OK for robust political engagement, it's OK to disagree ... it is not OK to invade people's privacy in a way that occurred in this particular case."

Petrelis and Wiener have had several political disagreements, including over a nudity ban authored by Wiener that just received its final approval from the Board of Supervisors today.

Wiener declined to comment on the case but referred reporters to a written statement he provided to the sheriff's department in the days after the incident.

The supervisor said in the statement that Petrelis "has a history of inappropriate and harassing behavior" and "has yelled at me in public before as a result of our political disagreements."

Wiener said as a result of his history with Petrelis and the blogger's attempt to photograph him urinating, "I did not want to remain in the restroom with Petrelis."